The first time I heard about Michelle Jenneke was when a mate who lives in the States sent me a video link. I’m not sure how he found it, but hey, 4chan takes you places.
His only comment accompany the clip was “holy balls.” I was expecting something that would scar me for life, but was surprised to find a clip of hurdles race. If I was that interested in athletics, I thought, I would have sat down and watched a couple of Sally Pearson races.
Well, if you’ve seen the clip, you probably had your mind blown as well. If you haven’t, you will.
What on the earth was that I just watched? This takes athletes’ pre-match routines to another level. Scratch that, another planet. Forget about LeBron and his powder-tossing ritual. There was no chance this clip wouldn’t go viral.
The best part about it all, though, was the fact that she actually won the race, by what appeared to be a significant margin. You don’t often see athletes back it up on the field after grabbing media attention for non-performance reasons.
So, whatever works for her, hey?
I am sure some people will say that she got attention for a dance routine and it wasn’t professional. They would say that athletes should take themselves seriously, and that while warm-ups are for shaking off nerves, that shouldn’t be taken literally.
However, what I saw was a 19-year-old athlete who was genuinely happy to participate in a competition, and the way she smiled broadly while congratulating her fellow hurdlers after the race shows that she doesn’t take herself too seriously. It was something simple and pure, the blissful joy of competing in sport.
For anyone who criticises her for being herself, you simply don’t understand that being an athlete doesn’t mean you have to completely deny your usual character. That can’t be healthy for young sportspeople.
The discussion that should arise after watching this video clip shouldn’t be about dancing and bouncing, it should be whether we as a society have imposed an unfair standard on athletes’ behaviour.
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